Methods for testing lasers using optical burn-in

ABSTRACT

Semiconductor lasers are aged to identify weak or flawed devices, resulting in improved reliability of the remaining devices. The lasers can be aged using a high-power optical burn-in that includes providing a high drive current to the lasers for a period of time, and maintaining the ambient temperature of the lasers at a low temperature. After the high-power optical burn-in, the output of the lasers can be measured to determine if the lasers are operating within specifications. Those that are not can be discarded, while those that are can be further aged using a high-temperature thermal burn-in that includes providing a drive current to the lasers while maintaining the ambient temperature of the lasers at a high-temperature.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of, and claims priority to, U.S.application Ser. No. 12/190,914, filed on Aug. 13, 2008, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,795,896, entitled “HIGH POWER OPTICAL BURN-IN,” which isincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. The Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to testing of semiconductorlasers. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to ahigh-power optical burn-in.

2. The Related Technology

Burn-in procedures are commonly utilized in production of opticalcomponents, such as laser diodes. Due to inconsistencies inmanufacturing techniques and materials, optical components can haveactual life cycles that differ significantly from design or theoreticallife cycles. Industry norm is to operate optical components for anextended period at the manufacturing facility with the hope that thoseoptical components having a less than desired life cycle fail duringinitial operation. These failed optical components, therefore, neverexit from the manufacturing facility to interrupt data flowing in anoptical network.

In the case of conventional laser diode manufacture, burn-in of laserdiodes includes operating the laser diodes at elevated ambienttemperatures for an extended period. This type of burn-in is oftenreferred to as high-temperature thermal burn-in (“TBI”). Thehigh-temperature condition makes the material of a laser diode softer byheating up the lattice, allowing point defects and dislocations to movethrough the material more easily than at low temperature. Thus,operating laser diodes at these elevated temperatures for a long periodfacilitates the identification of flawed and/or weak devices, therebyscreening out those laser diodes having a tendency to fail prematurely.

Conventional TBI processes have been found to be adequate for screeningcertain types of lasers, such as 10 G lasers made of indium galliumarsenide phosphide (“InGaAsP”), which have an inherently reliablestructure due to the semiconductor materials used. Notably, however,conventional TBI can fail to properly screen lasers made from othermaterials, such as indium aluminum gallium arsenide (“InAlGaAs”), whichmay have an inherently less reliable structure. Even so, lasers madefrom InAlGaAs may be desirable over lasers made from InGaAsP due toimproved performance characteristics at high speeds and/orhigh-temperatures.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodimentsdescribed herein may be practiced

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential characteristics of the claimed subject matter, nor is itintended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimedsubject matter.

Embodiments of the invention relate to methods for aging one or moresemiconductor lasers to identify weak or flawed devices and can includea high-power optical burn-in (“OBI”) process. The high-power OBIaccording to embodiments of the invention can include providing arelatively high drive current to one or more lasers being tested. Therelatively high drive current may range from three to four times thenormal operating bias current at elevated temperatures (e.g., 85° C.).The ambient temperature during the high-power OBI can be maintained ator around a relatively low temperature, such as 50° Celsius or lower.The relatively high drive current and relatively low temperature can bemaintained for a particular period of time, which may be five hours ormore in some embodiments.

Once the high-power OBI terminates, the optical output power of thelaser can be measured to determine whether the laser is still operatingwithin specifications. The optical output power after the high-power OBIcan be compared to the optical output power measured prior to thehigh-power OBI, and/or to a specified minimum value.

In some embodiments, the laser can be further subjected to ahigh-temperature TBI to identify any flawed or weak devices notidentified by the high-power OBI. During the high-temperature TBI, theambient temperature of the laser may be maintained at a temperature ofapproximately 85° Celsius.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Thefeatures and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained bymeans of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. These and other features of the present inventionwill become more fully apparent from the following description andappended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention asset forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the above and other advantages and features of thepresent invention, a more particular description of the invention willbe rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that thesedrawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and aretherefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention willbe described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example operating environment in which embodimentsof the invention can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a laser diode that can be implementedin the operating environment of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B disclose lifetime curves for different sample sets oflasers;

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict lifetime curves for sample sets of InAlGaAslasers subjected to different durations of high-power OBI;

FIG. 5 discloses an example test setup according to embodiments of theinvention

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a method for performing high-powerOBI; and

FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment of a method for aging lasers to identifyweak or flawed devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for testingoptoelectronic devices, such as, but not limited to, laser diodes. Themethods and systems of the present invention provide for theidentification of defective and/or unreliable laser diodes thatconventional TBI methods fail to identify. Contrary to conventional TBIaging, embodiments of the invention include device burn-in processesthat are performed at a relatively high drive current (such as three tofour times the normal operating bias current at elevated temperature),and relatively low temperatures, such as room temperature. Embodimentsof the invention can facilitate the identification of faultyoptoelectronic devices to improve reliability of the devices ultimatelydistributed to customers of laser manufacturers/distributors.

Reference will now be made to figures wherein like structures will beprovided with like reference designations. It is understood that thedrawings are diagrammatic and schematic representations of presentlypreferred embodiments of the invention, and are not limiting of thepresent invention nor are they necessarily drawn to scale.

I. Example Operating Environment

Reference is first made to FIG. 1, which discloses a perspective view ofan optical transceiver module (“transceiver”), generally designated at100, for use in transmitting and receiving optical signals in connectionwith an external host that is operatively connected in one embodiment toa communications network (not shown). As depicted, the transceiver shownin FIG. 1 includes various components, including a receiver opticalsubassembly (“ROSA”) 102, a transmitter optical subassembly (“TOSA”)104, electrical interfaces 106, various electronic components 108, and aprinted circuit board (“PCB”) 110. The PCB 110 includes a plurality ofconductive pads 112 and an edge connector 118. The components of thetransceiver 100 can be partially housed within a shell 120.

The optical transceiver 100 is described by way of illustration only,and not by way of restricting the scope of the invention. The opticaltransceiver 100 can be configured for optical signal transmission andreception at a variety of per-second data rates, including, but notlimited to, 1 Gigabit per second (“G”), 2 G, 2.5 G, 4 G, 8 G, 10 G, 17G, 25 G, or higher data rates. Furthermore, the optical transceiver 100can be configured for optical signal transmission and reception atvarious wavelengths including, but not limited to, 850 nm, 1310 nm, 1470nm, 1490 nm, 1510 nm, 1530 nm, 1550 nm, 1570 nm, 1590 nm, or 1610 nm. Inaddition, the principles of the present invention can be implemented inoptical transceivers or transponders of any form factor such as XFP,SFP, SFF, XENPAK, X2, 300-pin, without restriction. Having said that,the principles of the present invention are not restricted to an opticaltransceiver or transponder environment at all.

The TOSA 104 of the transceiver 100 is one example of an opticaltransmitter that can employ an optical signal source, such as asemiconductor laser, that is configured according to embodiments of theinvention. Briefly, in operation the transceiver 100 receives electricalsignals from a host (not shown), or other data signal-producing deviceto which the transceiver is operably connected, for transmission onto anoptical fiber operably connected to the TOSA 20. Circuitry of thetransceiver 100 drives an optical signal source, such as a semiconductorlaser (described below), within the TOSA 104 with signals that cause theTOSA to emit onto the optical fiber optical signals representative ofthe information in the electrical signal provided by the host.Accordingly, the TOSA 104 serves as an electro-optic transducer.

Having described a specific environment with respect to FIG. 1, it willbe understood that this specific environment is only one of countlessarchitectures in which the principles of the present invention may beemployed. As previously stated, the principles of the present inventionare not intended to be limited to any particular environment.

II. Example Semiconductor Laser

Together with FIG. 1, reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustratesa cross-sectional view of a semiconductor laser. In particular, FIG. 2discloses a ridge waveguide (“RWG”) laser 200, which is one example of asemiconductor laser that can be employed according to embodiments of theinvention. The RWG laser 200 disclosed in FIG. 2 can be implemented as aFabry-Perot (“FP”) RWG laser. For instance, the RWG laser 200 maycomprise a 10 G cooled or uncooled FP RWG laser. Alternately, the RWGlaser may comprise a 17 G or 25 G (or other data rate) cooled oruncooled FP RWG laser. Alternately, the RWG laser 200 can be implementedas a distributed feedback (“DFB”) RWG laser. It should be noted that theprinciples of the present invention can be extended to other laser typesconfigured for the same or other data transmission rates.

The RWG laser 200 can include, for instance, InAlGaAs, although othersemiconductor materials can alternately or additionally be included inthe RWG laser 200. One skilled in the art will appreciate that InAlGaAslasers may perform better at high speeds than more conventional InGaAsPlasers, while simultaneously being less reliable due to self-propagatingdark line defects in InAlGaAs. Accordingly, embodiments of the inventioninclude methods for aging and screening InAlGaAs and other semiconductorlasers, as described in greater detail below.

As disclosed in FIG. 2, the RWG laser 200 includes a substrate 202, amultiple quantum well (“MQW”) active layer 204 disposed above thesubstrate 202, a semiconductor spacer layer 206 disposed above theactive layer 204, and a ridge structure 208 disposed above semiconductorspacer layer 206. The RWG laser 200 also includes a contact layer 210disposed above the ridge 208. According to embodiments of the invention,layers 204-210 can be epitaxially grown, for example.

In addition, the RWG laser 200 can optionally include a dielectricpassivation layer 212 disposed above semiconductor spacer layer 206 andlaterally bordering either side of the ridge structure 208. Further, theRWG laser 200 includes a top metallic contact layer 214 disposed aboveboth the dielectric passivation layer 212 and the contact layer 210 andlaterally bordering the portions of the dielectric passivation layer 212that are laterally bordering either side of the ridge structure 208.Additionally, the RWG laser 200 includes a bottom metallic contact layer216 disposed beneath the substrate 202. Each of the top metallic contactlayer 214 and bottom metallic contact layer 216 can be composed of oneor more metal or metal alloy layers including, for instance, titanium,platinum, gold, or the like. In some embodiments of the invention, eachof the layers 212-216 is non-epitaxially grown.

Optionally, the RWG laser 200 can include a grating layer (e.g.,disposed above the spacer layer 206 and below the ridge structure 208),in which case the RWG laser 200 would be a DFB RWG laser.

The description above of the example semiconductor laser includes bothstructural and functional characteristics of a RWG laser, together withcertain details regarding the manufacturing processes used to build theRWG laser. Note, however, that this description is meant to beillustrative only; indeed, lasers and other semiconductor opticaldevices having structural and/or functional aspects that differ from theabove description can also benefit from the principles of embodiments ofthe invention as disclosed herein. It is also appreciated thatadditional or alternative layers or structures can be incorporated intothe present laser device as will be understood by those of skill in theart.

III. Burn-In of Semiconductor Lasers

Semiconductor lasers can be fabricated in large quantities by growingthe epitaxial and/or non-epitaxial layers described above on asemiconductor wafer. Individual lasers are removed from the wafer usingcommon techniques by cleaving and breaking the wafer both horizontallyand laterally to separate each laser. After this process,anti-reflective (“AR”) and high-reflective (“HR”) coating processes canbe performed to encapsulate the active region of each laser and providethe requisite reflectivity characteristics of the laser cavity.

Typically, every wafer that is fabricated generates a number offunctionally good laser die. In one example, a wafer may provide 2000operational laser die. Not all of these 2000 operational laser die,however, are robust enough to withstand aging in a user's hands. Infact, many types of semiconductor lasers have a high “infant mortality”rate, where a substantial number (e.g., 2-10% for some populations) oflasers fail after a relatively short period of use due to manufacturingdefects. For instance, FIG. 3A represents cumulative distribution offailures for a laser population as a function of time. Such graphs as inFIG. 3A are often referred to as lifetime curves or bathtub curvesbecause of their shape.

As a response to the high infant mortality rate, semiconductor lasersare typically subjected to performance testing in the form of ahigh-temperature TBI procedure. During a burn-in procedure, the laser isoperated at a specific current and temperature for a fixed duration. Thelaser is then tested to see if it is still performing within desiredspecifications. Performing burn-in allows flawed devices to beidentified before they are incorporated into larger product assembliesor shipped to customers. This leads to increased reliability for theremaining lasers that are incorporated into products in the field.

Conventional burn-in techniques include high-temperature TBI, whichgenerally involves operating a laser at high temperature (e.g.,approximately 85° Celsius or higher) and high current (e.g, about 2times the normal operating bias current) for a particular duration(usually several hours, for example). While conventional TBI has provenadequate for screening InGaAsP lasers, it may not be adequate forscreening some InAlGaAs lasers. It will be appreciated by those skilledin the art that equipment vendors and other customers of lasermanufacturers may find the high failure rate of InAlGaAs lasers to beundesirable and/or unacceptable, despite their improved performancecompared to conventional lasers.

To that end, embodiments of the invention include methods for aging oneor more FP and other semiconductor lasers made of InAlGaAs and/or othersemiconductor materials to determine their reliability and screen outweak lasers. In particular, embodiments of the invention include ahigh-power OBI. Aspects of the high-power OBI, including duration of thehigh-power OBI, can be selected using one or more of: lifetime datagenerated from a population of lasers subjected to a high-power OBI, andreliability data from lasers with a few different durations ofhigh-power OBI applied. Alternately or additionally, the selection of aduration of the high-power OBI can depend on data relating to how thecatastrophic optical damage (“COD”) threshold falls for a population ofaging lasers.

FIGS. 3B-4B disclose lifetime data and reliability data for a pluralityof 10 G FP InAlGaAs lasers. Lifetime data and reliability data forslower or faster data rate lasers made from the same or differentsemiconductor materials having the same or different design parametersare not necessarily identical to that shown in FIGS. 3B-4B and canresult in the selection of different values for the duration of thehigh-power OBI.

One approach taken by laser manufacturers to optimize burn-in durationis to graph the percentage of weak lasers that can be removed as afunction of burn-in duration for a particular burn-in, and thendetermine what the shortest burn-in duration is that can meet customerneeds, while leaving some margin for error. For example, FIG. 3Bdiscloses failures as a function of time during a high-power OBI for apopulation of FP InAlGaAs lasers. Note that the vertical axis of FIG. 3Bcorresponds to the percentage of failed lasers, rather than failure rateas in FIG. 3A; as a result, the bathtub curve in FIG. 3B looks differentcompared to the bathtub curve in FIG. 3A.

To obtain the data for the curve 302 of FIG. 3B, the population of FPInAlGaAs lasers were subjected to a high-power OBI that includedmaintaining a relatively low ambient temperature and providing a drivecurrent that is three to four times more than the normal operating biascurrent of the lasers at elevated temperatures. In particular, thelasers were aged at an ambient temperature of approximately 35° C. Thedrive current was 200 mA continuous wave (“CW”). The lasers weremonitored every few minutes to allow exact times to failure to be noted.Failures, when they occurred, were generally rapid and catastrophic oncethey passed a certain point. For those that weren't rapid andcatastrophic, a 20% reduction in output power was used as the criterionto determine failure time.

As disclosed by curve 302 in FIG. 3B, most failures occur in the firstseveral hours, and later failures occur at a declining rate.Specifically, most failed lasers of the laser population represented bycurve 302 can be identified before time t₁, which corresponds toapproximately two hours on the logarithmically-scaled horizontal axis ofFIG. 3B. However, identifying most failed lasers in other laserpopulations may take longer than two hours in other embodiments and/ornot all laser populations necessarily show saturation in just a fewhours.

With additional reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, reliability data from FPInAlGaAs lasers with different durations of high-power OBI according toembodiments of the invention is disclosed. In particular, FIG. 4Aincludes three curves 402, 404, and 406 corresponding to three samplesets of lasers from a first population of FP InAlGaAs lasers. FIG. 4Bincludes two curves 412, 414 corresponding to two sample sets of lasersfrom a second population of FP InAlGaAs lasers.

The first sample set of lasers from the first population were subjectedto no high-power OBI (curve 402), the second sample set of the firstpopulation were subjected to a five-hour high-power OBI (curve 404), andthe third sample set of the first population were subjected to afive-hour high-power OBI plus a sweep OBI (curve 406). The first sampleset of lasers from the second population were subjected to no high-powerOBI (curve 412), and the second sample set of the second population weresubjected to a one-hundred-hour high-power OBI (curve 414). In addition,all of the lasers in the first and second population were subjected toan identical TBI process prior to obtaining the reliability data.

The data in FIGS. 4A and 4B was collected at 100° C. ambient temperatureand 120 mA CW drive current (collectively referred to as the “testconditions”). For this data to be useful, it is helpful to know theacceleration of the test conditions above what the lasers wouldexperience under normal conditions. A conservative acceleration factorof 85× is applied herein, the derivation of which is beyond the scope ofthis document.

The acceleration factor, in conjunction with the time at which 0.1%cumulative failures occurs under the test conditions, can be used tocalculate the time at which 0.1% cumulative failures will occur undernormal operating conditions. For instance, as shown by curve 402 in FIG.4A, 0.1% cumulative failures for lasers from the first population withno high-power OBI under the test conditions occurs at approximately 100hours. Using the conservative acceleration factor of 85×, it can then becalculated that 0.1% cumulative failures in lasers from the firstpopulation with no high-power OBI under normal operating conditionsoccurs in 85×100 hours=8,500 hours, or about 11.6 months. For lasersfrom the second population with no high-power OBI, it is calculated that0.1% cumulative failures under normal operating conditions occurs in85×90 hours=7,650 hours, or about 10.5 months. Cumulative failures of0.1% in 11.6 months or 10.5 months are unacceptable to most customers;indeed, InAlGaAs laser technology has suffered many delays incommercialization due to such early failure issues.

To improve reliability, the second and third sample sets of the firstpopulation were subjected to a five-hour high-power OBI and the secondsample set of the second population was subjected to a one-hundred-hourhigh-power OBI prior to being subjected to the test conditions. Duringthe high-power OBIs, the sample sets were aged at 35° C. ambienttemperature and 200 mA CW drive current. For the second sample set ofthe first population which was subjected to the five-hour high-powerOBI, no failures were observed for over 1,500 hours, as indicated bycurve 404 in FIG. 4A. For the third sample set of the first populationwhich was subjected to the five-hour high-power OBI plus a sweep OBI(discussed in greater detail below), no failures were observed for over6,000 hours, as indicated by curve 406 in FIG. 4A. For the second sampleset of the second population which was subjected to the one-hundred-hourhigh-power OBI, no failures were observed for over 2,000 hours, asindicated by curve 414 in FIG. 4B.

Using the conservative 85× acceleration factor, 0.1% cumulative failuresfor lasers subjected to a five-hour high-power OBI is calculated tooccur at approximately fifteen years under normal operating conditions.Additionally, 0.1% cumulative failures for lasers subjected to afive-hour high-power OBI plus sweep OBI is calculated to occur atapproximately fifty-eight years under normal operating conditions.Additionally, 0.1% cumulative failures for lasers subjected to aone-hundred-hour OBI is calculated to occur at approximately twentyyears under normal operating conditions. Thus, lasers subjected tohigh-power OBI manifest significantly improved failure-free timescompared to lasers not subjected to high-power OBI. Such improvedfailure-free times are typically acceptable for most customers.

The reliability data of FIG. 4 was obtained for lasers subjected to nohigh-power OBI or to high-power OBIs of five hours or one-hundred hoursduration. Alternately or additionally, other durations for thehigh-power OBI can be implemented. For instance, the duration of thehigh-power OBI (“OBI duration”) can be adapted depending on variousfactors, including the design of the lasers, the semiconductor materialsused in manufacturing the lasers, and high-power OBI conditions such asambient temperature and drive current. Accordingly, in some embodimentsof the invention, lasers can be subjected to an OBI duration as littleas ten minutes. Alternately or additionally, the OBI duration can befive hours, ten hours, twenty hours, one-hundred hours, or the like.

Turning now to FIG. 5, a test setup 500 for performing a high-power OBIaccording to embodiments of the invention is abstractly illustrated in asimplified form. The test setup 500 is only one example of countlesstest setups that can be implemented for performing high-power OBIs and,as such, should not be construed to limit the invention. The test setup500 includes a device board 502 for receiving one or more lasers fortesting, a detector board 504 with one or more optical detectors, and acomputer 506. The test setup 500 can further include drive circuitry508, such as a precision current source, for driving the lasers to emitoptical signals, and data acquisition circuitry 510 for collecting datafrom the detector board 504. The optical detectors included in thedetector board 504 can be configured to sense the optical signalsgenerated by the lasers and/or measure the optical output power of thelasers.

Although not shown, the test setup 500 can further include aclimate-controlled environment, such as a refrigerated and/or heatedunit, in which the device board 502 and the lasers received thereon canbe placed to control the ambient temperature of the lasers. Theclimate-controlled environment can be adjusted manually or otherwise tomaintain a particular ambient temperature or ambient temperatureprofile.

The drive circuitry 508 can be configured to generate a drive currentdeliverable to each laser on the device board 502, causing the lasers toemit optical signals. The computer 506 can be configured to receive datafrom the detector board 504 via the data acquisition circuitry 510 thatis based upon the output from each laser. The computer 506 can thenstore the measured optical power output from each laser and/or displaysuch information to a user. This allows the user, or the computer 506when the computer is performing functions automatically, to determinewhether a laser is to be removed from the device board 502 or subjectedto additional burn-in processes. Alternately or additionally, otherdrive circuitry or components (not shown) can be provided for drivinglasers in the device board 502 to emit optical signals during ahigh-power OBI or a TBI, or the like.

With combined reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, an example high-power OBImethod 600 is now described that can be implemented in the test setup500 of FIG. 5 or in other testing environments. The high-power OBImethod 600 begins after one or more lasers or other optical signalsources have been placed in the device board 502 and aligned with one ormore corresponding detectors on the detector board 504. The high-powerOBI 600 begins by providing 602 a relatively high drive current to eachof the lasers being tested. The relatively high drive current can be apulsed or CW current. The value of the relatively high drive current canbe selected to produce maximum optical output power from the lasers. Insome embodiments, for example, the relatively high drive current may beanywhere from 3 to 4 times the normal operating bias current at elevatedambient temperature (e.g., 85° C.) of the lasers being tested.

Although normal operating bias current at an elevated ambienttemperature may vary from laser to laser, an average or theoreticaloperating bias current for the particular type of laser being tested canbe used as a baseline for determining the value of the relatively highdrive current for each of the lasers being tested. Alternately oradditionally, the operating bias current of each laser under test can bedetermined individually to allow the relatively high drive current to bedetermined individually for each laser.

As an example, the normal operating bias currents for a plurality ofInAlGaAs 10G FP lasers may vary from about 50 mA to 60 mA. For a 10G FPRWG laser with a ridge that is 2 microns wide and 200 microns long and aMQW active region with eight quantum wells, a 50 mA-60 mA normaloperating bias current can also be expressed as 1.56 kA/cm²-1.87 kA/cm²per quantum well. Thus, the relatively high drive current during theburn-in process 700 may range from 150 mA-240 mA, which is approximatelyequal to 4.68 kA/cm²-7.48 kA/cm² per quantum well. It is understood thatthe specific operating bias current and drive current values providedherein are given by way of example only, and should not be construed tolimit the invention.

The high-power OBI method 600 continues by maintaining 604 therelatively high drive current to the lasers for a particular period oftime—referred to as the “OBI duration”. The OBI duration may beapproximately ten minutes in some embodiments. Alternately oradditionally, the OBI duration may be approximately five hours.Alternately or additionally, the OBI duration may be approximatelyone-hundred hours. Having said that, it will be appreciated that the OBIduration can be virtually any time period as little as ten minutes orless and up to one-hundred hours or more. Those skilled in the art willappreciate, with the benefit of the present disclosure, that the valueof the OBI duration can be optimized depending on various factorsincluding the design of the lasers being tested, the semiconductormaterials making up the lasers, and the test conditions such as drivecurrent and ambient temperature of the high-power OBI 600.

The high-power OBI method 600 concludes by maintaining 606 the ambienttemperature of the lasers at a relatively low temperature. For instance,the ambient temperature may be selected from the range of temperatureslower than 50° C. In some embodiments, the ambient temperature isselected from the range of temperatures from negative 40° C. up to asmuch as 50° C. For example, the ambient temperature can be maintained ator around room temperature or 25° C.

According to embodiments of the invention, the high-power OBI process600 can be implemented alone or in conjunction with conventional TBIprocesses and/or other aging techniques to maximize the identificationand removal of weak lasers from a given set or population of lasers. Oneembodiment of a method 700 for accelerating the aging of multiple lasersto determine the reliability of the lasers, and that incorporateshigh-power OBI, is disclosed in FIG. 7.

The method 700 can be implemented using the test setup 500 of FIG. 5including a device board 502, detector board 504, test computer 506,drive circuitry 508, and data acquisition circuitry 510, and/or otherequipment, for example. The method 700 of FIG. 7 can optionally includevarious steps not depicted in FIG. 7, such as placing the lasers in thedevice board 502, aligning the lasers with corresponding opticaldetectors on the detector board 504, and so on.

The method 700 begins by performing 702 an initial test, which mayinclude determining the initial optical output power for each of thelasers at a particular initial drive current. The initial drive currentmay be approximately equal to the average operating bias current of thetype of lasers being tested, although other drive currents canalternately be used. The drive circuitry 508 may generate the initialdrive current for each laser, causing each laser to emit an opticalsignal, the optical power of which can be measured by a correspondingoptical detector on detector board 504. The power measurements from thedetector board 504 can be received and stored by the test computer 506for later use. In particular, the power measurements determined duringthe initial test can serve as a baseline for determining if a laser isweak and/or flawed.

At step 704, a high-power OBI is performed on the lasers that maycorrespond to the high-power OBI 600 of FIG. 6. The high-power OBI caninclude providing a drive current to the lasers for a particular OBIduration, the drive current being three to four times greater than theoperating current of the lasers, while maintaining the ambienttemperature of the lasers at or about a particular temperature less than50° C.

The method 700 can continue at any one of optional steps 706-710 orproceed directly to step 712. For instance, at optional step 706, anintermediate test can be performed similar to the initial test performedat step 702. The intermediate test can include determining anintermediate optical output power for each of the lasers using the samedrive current as in step 702. The intermediate optical output power canthen be compared 714 by the test computer 506 (or by hand) to theinitial optical output power to identify and reject 716 any lasers thatare no longer performing within specifications, as described in greaterdetail below.

At optional step 708, a high-temperature TBI process can be performed onthe lasers. The high-temperature TBI of step 708 can be performed on allthe lasers. Alternately, the high-temperature TBI can be performed onlyon those lasers that are still performing within specifications afterperforming the intermediate test 706 and comparing the intermediateoptical output power to the initial optical output power to identify andreject lasers no longer performing within specifications.

At optional step 710, a sweep OBI can be performed on the lasers underdrive current and ambient temperature conditions that can be similar todrive current and ambient temperature conditions applied during thehigh-power OBI of step 704. For example, the sweep OBI can include asweep to 200 mA CW drive current and 60 mW of power at approximately 35°C. ambient temperature, for example. Alternately, a pulsed or CW drivecurrent that is higher or lower than 200 mA and an ambient temperaturehigher or lower than 35° C. can be applied during the sweep OBI. Theduration of the sweep OBI can be several seconds per laser in someembodiments. The sweep OBI of optional step 710 serves to screen outparts that weakened significantly during the TBI process, using anoptical stress far above that experienced during normal operation. Thisleaves a significant margin for degradation before the strength of theparts falls below the normal stress level, and assures a significant“failure free period”.

The method 700 proceeds by performing 712 a final test on the lasers.Similar to the initial test of step 702 and the optional intermediatetest of step 706, the final test of step 712 can include determining afinal optical output power for each of the lasers using the same drivecurrent as in the initial test of step 702. The final optical outputpower can be received and stored by the computer 506 of FIG. 5.

The computer 506 can then compare 714 the final optical output power tothe initial optical output power to determine which lasers are stillperforming within desired specifications and thereby identify whichlasers are reliable and which are unreliable. For example, a laser whosefinal optical power has dropped more than a specified amount, such as2%, compared to the initial optical power can be identified as a flawedand unreliable laser and can be rejected 716. Alternately, the finaloptical power can be compared to a specified lower limit and all laserswith final optical power below the specified lower limit can be rejected716. Rejecting 716 unreliable lasers can include discarding theunreliable lasers so they are not incorporated into any modules or unitsdistributed to customers.

On the other hand, a laser whose final optical power has dropped lessthan the specified amount, or with a final optical power above thespecified lower limit can be identified 718 as reliable and canoptionally be used 720 in the manufacture of modules or units thatinclude lasers.

One skilled in the art will appreciate, with the benefit of the presentdisclosure, that the method 700 is an example only, and modificationsthereof can be made according to a particular need or desire. Forexample, embodiments within the scope of the invention can omit step 702of performing the initial test to determine the initial optical outputpower of the lasers if the final optical output power is compared to aparticular standard or specification, rather than to the initial opticaloutput power. Alternately or additionally, embodiments of the inventioncan include a step of ascertaining the reliability of the lasers, whichmay include measuring the initial and/or final optical power andcomparing one or both measurements to each other or to a particularstandard or specification.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. A method for testing a laser, the method comprising: determining aninitial optical output power for a laser; performing a high-poweroptical burn-in on the laser for a first period of time; determining asubsequent optical output power for the laser; and comparing thesubsequent optical output power to the initial optical output power todetermine whether the laser is operating within a predetermined set ofspecifications.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing ahigh-power optical burn-in on the laser includes providing a drivecurrent to the laser while maintaining the ambient temperature of thelaser at 50 degrees Celsius or lower, the drive current provided to thelaser being at least three times greater than the normal operating biascurrent of the laser.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:performing a high-temperature thermal burn-in on the laser determined tobe operating within the specifications; determining a final opticaloutput power for the laser; and comparing the final optical output powerto the initial optical output power to determine if the laser continuesto operate within the specifications.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe high-temperature thermal burn-in is performed for a second period oftime between several hours and several days.
 5. The method of claim 3,further comprising, performing a sweep optical burn-in on the laser. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein laser comprises a Fabry-Perot laserconfigured for optical signal transmission at a data rate ofapproximately: 10 gigabits per second, 17 gigabits per second, or 25gigabits per second.
 7. A method for testing lasers, the methodcomprising: performing an initial test on a plurality of lasers todetermine an initial optical output power for each of the plurality oflasers; performing a high-power optical burn-in on the plurality oflasers for a first period of time; after performing the high-poweroptical burn in on the plurality of lasers for the first period of time,performing a subsequent test to determine a subsequent optical outputpower for each of the plurality of lasers; and for each of the pluralityof lasers, comparing the subsequent optical output power to the initialoptical output power to determine which of the plurality of lasers areoperating within specifications.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinperforming a high-power optical burn-in on the plurality of lasersincludes providing a drive current to each of the plurality of laserswhile maintaining the ambient temperature of the plurality of lasers at50 degrees Celsius or lower, the drive current provided to each laserbeing at least three times greater than the normal operating biascurrent of the laser.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the ambienttemperature of the lasers is maintained at approximately 35 degreesCelsius.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising: performing ahigh-temperature thermal burn-in on each of one or more lasersdetermined to be operating within specifications; performing a finaltest on each of the one or more lasers to determine a final opticaloutput power for each of the one or more lasers; and comparing the finaloptical output power to the initial optical output power to determinewhich of the one or more lasers continue to operate withinspecifications after the high-temperature thermal burn-in.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the high-temperature thermal burn-in isperformed for a second period of time between several hours and severaldays.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising, performing a sweepoptical burn-in on the one or more lasers.
 13. The method of claim 10,further comprising, discarding one or more unreliable lasers notoperating within specifications.
 14. The method of claim 7, wherein eachof the plurality of lasers comprises a Fabry-Perot laser configured foroptical signal transmission at a data rate of approximately: 10 gigabitsper second, 17 gigabits per second, or 25 gigabits per second.
 15. Themethod of claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of lasers comprises anindium aluminum gallium arsenide semiconductor laser.
 16. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the duration of the first period of time is selecteddepending on one or more factors including: a design of the lasers, whatsemiconductor materials make up the lasers, the drive current, and theambient temperature.